4 Stocks to Buy If You Love Moms

Make no mistake about it: Moms are the best. They're our biggest supporters, our number one fans, and they are always there for us. So this Mother's Day, why not invest in companies that are helping both the mothers (and fathers) they employ, as well as the mothers who make up their customer base?

Here are four stocks that anyone who loves moms should buy.

1. Campbell's Soup Company [NYSE: CPB]

The connection between moms and chicken soup alone might be enough for you to want to buy this stock. But Campbell's Soup has made this list because of one specific subset of its food empire: Plum Organics.

Founded as a startup in 2007, Plum Organics is a mission-driven baby and toddler food company committed to offering the best sustainable nutrition to all children. In 2013, Campbell's acquired Plum Organics, and in an impressive display of integrity, Plum's president and co-founder Neil Grimmer requested that the smaller company pursue certification as a benefit corporation after the sale. For-profit benefit corporations not only create value for their shareholders, but they also have legal requirements for accountability, transparency, and purpose.

Since then, Plum Organics has continued to try to make the world a better place for parents and children. In particular, their The Full Effect program has donated over 8.6 million organic meals and snacks to children in need. The company also works hard to reduce its environmental footprint by both reducing packaging and creating recycling programs for its packaging.

Though Plum Organics is only a small part of the Campbell's Soup Company, the fact that Campbell's continues to encourage its child-friendly, mom-friendly, and environment-friendly mission makes it worthy of this list.

The Campbell's Soup Company is also working to improve the lives of the mothers and fathers it employs. The company recently revamped its parental leave policy, offering 10 weeks of paid leave for a primary caregiver and two weeks of paid leave for a secondary caregiver. The fact that such a huge company is working to make life easier for new parents is definitely a great step.

2. Etsy [NASDAQ: ETSY]

You may know Etsy as the place to get creative handmade gifts, but it is also a publicly-traded company that does a great deal to support moms.

To start, Etsy decided in 2016 to offer all employees 26 weeks of paid parental leave after birth or adoption, regardless of the employee's gender or primary/secondary caregiver designation. Etsy's generous, gender-neutral leave policy can help pave the way for other companies to recognize the importance of supporting young families — especially if we invest in Etsy by buying its stock.

In addition, Etsy's business model has offered a manageable approach to entrepreneurship for moms who wish to straddle the line between staying home with the kids and earning an income. Supporting Etsy by buying its stock means helping to strengthen the finances of creative parents who are trying to balance working from home and child rearing.

Finally, Etsy is a certified B Corp, meaning that it is committed to accountability and transparency within its socially responsible mission. To support that mission, Etsy created Craft Entrepreneurship, an educational program that offers creative people in low-income communities the knowledge and skills to start Etsy businesses.

3. Johnson & Johnson [NYSE: JNJ]

Eight of Johnson & Johnson's first 14 employees were women — all the way back when the health care company was founded in 1886.

Women receive 47 percent of all promotions at Johnson & Johnson, while only making up 45 percent of the total company employees. In addition, the company offers leadership initiatives that emphasize gender balance, as well as executive education courses that are specifically tailored to women. All of this is great news for mothers working for the corporation, which employs over 39,000 people.

Parental leave at Johnson & Johnson is relatively generous, with at least nine weeks of paid leave offered to new mothers and fathers. But the company continues looking out for families long after babies are born. It also offers six on-site day care facilities, sick-child care, backup child care, and 10 paid days of sick leave per year to look after ill family members.

On top of that, a full 95 percent of employees use flextime, and 75 percent telecommute, while managers are specifically trained to implement and manage flexible working arrangements. Those arrangements can be particularly helpful for working parents.

4. Netflix [NASDAQ: NFLX]

Any mother of a newborn can attest to the lifesaving power of Netflix in the middle of a long sleepless night. But Netflix is not just supporting overtired parents with middle-of-the-night TV binges. It is also a leader in providing excellent parental leave to its employees.

As of 2016, salaried Netflix employees are permitted unlimited paid parental leave for their child's first year of life. The policy is the same for salaried employees who adopt children. This incredibly generous policy is a great step forward in recognizing that new parents are often the best judges of how much time they need before returning to work.

Netflix has also made sure to take care of hourly employees who become parents. Hourly workers receive paid parental leave at 100 percent pay. The amount of time off that they receive depends upon which arm of the company they work for, with Streaming hourly employees receiving 16 weeks, DVD employees receiving 12 weeks, and customer service employees receiving 14 weeks. In all cases, the parental leave is for maternity, paternity, and adoptions.

Putting your money where your mom is

We all talk about how much we love and respect mothers, but it can feel like lip service if our actions don't reflect those feelings. One of the best ways to show your love and respect for Mom is to support the corporations that make it easier for all mothers to take care of business — at work and at home.

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